South Africa, by design
Introduction
Most people arrive wanting two things that sit eight hundred miles apart: a leopard at first light, and lunch at a table above the Atlantic. South Africa gives you both inside a fortnight, without either one being a compromise. What it does not do is join them for you. That part is ours, and it is where a very good trip becomes the one people talk about for years.
Why Choose South Africa
Because nowhere else lets you sit eleven feet from a leopard on Tuesday and swim before breakfast on Saturday. The private reserves west of Kruger offer guiding that photographers travel the world for. The Kalahari and the Eastern Cape offer wildlife of the same calibre without malaria, which matters if you are travelling with children. Cape Town is one of the great small cities and the winelands sit forty-five minutes behind it. For anyone earning in dollars, pounds or euros, the top of this market costs a fraction of its Mediterranean equivalent.
Highlights
The four things we settle first, because everything else in a South African itinerary follows from them.
Lodges and Houses
Sole-use lodges in the bush, staffed residences above the Atlantic, and rooms chosen for the people actually going rather than for the photograph.
Where you sleep sets the character of the whole trip. A house in Constantia suits a family that wants space and a cook who knows what the children will actually eat. A camp on a private concession suits a couple who would rather be the only vehicle at a sighting.
The Table
A table on the water in Bantry Bay, a long lunch in the Hemel-en-Aarde, and the winemaker sitting at it. Booked before you land.
Cape Town is one of the great eating cities and almost nobody outside it knows that. The valley behind Hermanus makes the finest pinot noir in the country and most visitors never reach it.
Wildlife
Leopard at arm’s length in the Sabi Sand. Black-maned lions and meerkats in the Kalahari. Big Five without malaria, if you would rather.
The private reserves west of Kruger offer guiding that photographers travel the world for. Where malaria is a concern, and with young children it usually is, the Kalahari and the Eastern Cape deliver the same calibre of wildlife with none of the risk.
Experiences
A helicopter over Cape Point on a still morning, an estate opened for your party alone, and one guide across both halves of the trip.
Chosen well, one or two of these change the character of an entire itinerary. Chosen badly they are expensive noise. Knowing which is which is the work.
Begin with a conversation.
Tell us roughly when, who is travelling and what you have in mind. We will come back with a considered, bespoke proposal.
